Operation Uinta is a way to test your Amateur Radio APRS station, normally
on 2 meters, or HF CW station on 20, 30, 40 and 80 meters, with special
accommodation for Novice and Technician Plus operators on 40 and 80 meters.
If your CW is a bit rusty, try the slow-speed operation in the Novice/Tech+
slots. If your CW is non-existent, you may still participate via APRS.
I will be backpacking in the Ashley National Forest portion of the High
Uintas Wilderness east of Salt Lake City, from September 19 through 24.
Here is the on-the-air Operation Uinta plan:
APRS from Monday, September 19 through Saturday, September 24:
Any time I am awake I will be telemetering my position regularly on 144.390
MHz via APRS. How successful my connectivity will be with the APRS system
remains to be seen. Check:
http://www.findu.com/cgi-bin/find.cgi?n7rr*
You are welcome to participate by sending me messages via APRS. If you
include your Maidenhead / Name exchange (see details below) and I receive
your message, I will reciprocate via a return APRS message with my
Maidenhead / Name exchange. If you also include your e-mail address with
your APRS message, I will send you a return e-mail message with my
Maidenhead / Name exchange via APRS.
HF CW Evening Operations Monday, September 19 through Friday, September 23:
1930-1945 MDT (0130-0145Z next date) 7040 kHz especially for Rock-Mite 40s
1945-1955 MDT (0145-0155Z next date) 7110 kHz QRS for Novice and Tech+
1955-2035 MDT (0155-0235Z next date) 7030 kHz
2035-2045 MDT (0235-0245Z next date) QRT break
2045-2120 MDT (0245-0320Z next date) Idaho-Montana Net (IMN) 3647 kHz
2120-2130 MDT (0320-0330Z next date) 3710 kHz QRS for Novice and Tech+
2130-2200 MDT (0330-0400Z next date) 3560 kHz
Please note: I will be sending and receiving formal written traffic on the
Idaho-Montana Net rather than soliciting Maidenhead / Name QSOs on the IMN
frequency. If I finish the IMN traffic early, then I will start the 3710
kHz session earlier than scheduled.
HF CW Mid-day Operations Tuesday, September 20 through Saturday, September
24:
1300-1315 MDT (1900-1915Z) 10 106 kHz (times approximate on Sept. 23 and 24)
1315-1400 MDT (1915-2000Z) 14 060 kHz (times approximate on Sept. 23 and 24)
All Operation Uinta HF frequencies are plus/minus QRM, of course.
Exchange:
Operation Uinta on HF will consist of brief QSOs with a standard exchange:
6-character Maidenhead Grid and Name, for example:
EM29pc [or similar] JUDY
I will typically call:
CQ DE N7RR UINTA K
Please answer with just YOUR_COMPLETE_CALLSIGN.
I will then send YOUR_CALLSIGN DN40xr [or similar] BRUCE A_R K_N
You will then reply with YOUR_MAIDENHEAD_GRID YOUR_NAME K
If I copy your exchange completely, Ill send TU or QSL, then
CQ DE N7RR UINTA K or simply QRZ? N7RR K
More than one QSO from the same station is fine on different bands and on
different days.
Q: How do I figure out my six-character Maidenhead grid square without a
GPS receiver?
A: If you know your latitude and longitude in degrees and minutes and maybe
even seconds, go to the AMSAT GridSquare Conversion page to find your
six-digit Maidenhead grid square:
http://www.amsat.org/amsat/toys/gridconv.html
If you cannot determine your latitude and longitude using a map, then go to
Maporama:
http://www.maporama.com/share/
Then enter your address. When a map is produced, scroll down so you can see
the Information tab on the left side of the screen. Below that is the
latitude and longitude of the center of the map. The coordinates are given
as either degrees and integer minutes or as decimal degrees. Use the degrees
and minutes version. Latitude is given first. A positive number means
North and a negative one South. The next part is longitude, where a
negative number means West and a positive one East. Now take that
information to the AMSAT GridSquare Conversion page to obtain your
six-character Maidenhead grid square reference. A resolution of degrees and
whole minutes is usually good enough to obtain an accurate six-character
Maidenhead grid. Without knowing your seconds, you may occasionally in the
worst case be off by one six-character square. My Maidenhead grid squares
will be derived from my GPS receiver, set with WGS84 datum.
Ashley National Forest / High Uintas Wilderness Itinerary:
I will camp at the West Fork Whiterocks trailhead at 10,000 feet to begin
acclimatizing on September 19. On the 20th I will backpack northwest to
Cleveland Lake at 10,650 feet. On the 21st I will continue northwest
through Fox Queant Pass at 11,250 feet and the High Uintas Wilderness
boundary and down to Fox Lake at 11,000 feet. I will hike by Kidney Lakes
at 10,850 feet to Painter Basin at 11,200 feet on the 22nd. On the 23rd if
I feel well enough acclimatized and the weather cooperates, I will try to
climb with a light pack via Anderson Pass to the summit of Kings Peak, the
highest point in Utah at 13,528 feet [4123 m], and return to Kidney Lakes
via Painter Basin. On the 24th I will return to the West Fork Whiterocks
trailhead.
Backpack Amateur Radio Equipment:
For 2 m APRS operation I will be using a Kenwood TH-D7A(G) handitalkie and a
Diamond SRH77CA high-gain dual-band antenna while hiking, and a 2 m J-pole
made from 300 ohm twin-lead while in camp. The GPS receiver is a Garmin
GPSmap 60C. For HF operation I will be using an Elecraft K1 with the
brand-new K1BKLTKIT LCD backlight mod kit and an internal tuner, and an
Elecraft KX1 with a 30 m module and an internal tuner, an American Morse
Porta-Paddle with leg holder, a 25.4 m end-fed wire antenna with 9.1 m and
10.13 m counterpoise wires capacitively coupled to the ground. All power
will be obtained by AA photo lithium cells: 4 cells in the TH-D7A(G) and 8
cells in an external battery pack for the K1 and KX1. The KX1 also has 6
cells internally for backup. In daylight, I may use a small parafoil kite
to lift the end-fed wire. In that case, I will thrust one ski pole with its
paint scraped off and without its basket as far as I can into the ground,
attached to the end-fed antenna through a 1.2 megohm, 2 W bleeder resistor
to discharge static charges from the end-fed antenna. Where trees are
absent and kite-lift is impractical, I will marry my two ski poles into one
long pole in their avalanche-probe configuration, to give a little bit of
elevation to the end-fed wire. Where trees are available, I will find a
fist-sized rock and fasten it to a nylon cord with a tight noose called the
Scaffold Knot and lob it over a high branch. The nylon cord is tied to the
end-fed antenna with a Hunter Bend. Since the summit of Kings Peak appears
to be a pile of boulders, with a dim prospect of a decent ground connection,
I am carrying a combination 20 m / 30 m half-wavelength dipole and a short
coaxial cable for the possible summit operation.
I am looking forward to catching you on the air!
73, Bruce Prior N7RR